The present invention relates to an improved fishhook designed for facilitating release from a fish, and to a cooperating lever-type handle or tool for attachment to the fishhook to enable the disengagement of a fish from the fishhook using a mechanical advantage provided by the handle.
In the past, the usual way to unhook a fish was to turn the hook out of its engagement with the engaged mouth tissues, but this was not always easy to do nor was it beneficial to the fish. As exemplified by the patented literature, there are two techniques for facilitating this disengagement. One of these techniques, represented by U.S. Pat. No. 2,501,210, contemplates allowing the barbed tip of the hook to be released from its reverse-direction orientation for movement into substantial alignment with the remainder of the hook, all to the end of facilitating release and minimizing the amount or extent of the turning that is required in the hook. The other technique, as represented by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,027,676 and 2,815,603, contemplates the use of a second line attached to the hook which, when pulled, urges a rotative or turning movement in the hook that is intended to cause its release.
The foregoing and similar fishhook releases are not entirely satisfactory. The former complicates the construction of the hook and is, in addition, vulnerable to inadvertently losing the required hook shape, thus allowing the fish to escape. The latter also complicates the construction of the hook and, despite the presence of an extra line attached to the hook, does not really contribute to the ease of removal of the hook because of the excessive pulling force that must be applied to the second line.